• Monthly Columns

    Focus Pocus

    Finding Inspiration When You’re Overwhelmed (Litha 2023)   Everyone has probably felt overwhelmed from time to time, but those who are neurodivergent might experience overwhelming feelings differently, more frequently, or both. It’s easy for us to feel overwhelmed in overstimulating environments, our brains are always scanning the world around us, thinking at what feels like five times the speed of light, making connections upon connections, and our neurodivergent brains don’t help us filter a lot of the noise out. This can leave us anxious, paralyzed, and feeling like we’re stuck or out of control and can act like a huge barrier when we are trying to get ourselves together, especially…

  • Monthly Columns

    Focus Pocus

    Odysseus Probably Had ADHD   Ever since I was diagnosed with ADHD, I’ve been looking for role models I can learn from. There are many celebrities, athletes, and influencers who speak out about their experiences and I find it inspiring to hear their stories. Simone Biles, Emma Watson, and Scott Kelly are just a few of the famous people I admire and hearing about their struggles and their achievements helps me remember that I can achieve a lot of things myself. I also like to observe other people and see if any ADHD-like characteristics emerge, or any other neurodivergent traits. I do this with the intention of better understanding someone…

  • Monthly Columns

    Focus Pocus

    Focus Pocus: Deviating from the Norm Whatever “the norm” even is!   (Photo by Natasha Connell on Unsplash)   My practice has changed a lot in the past few years. Not only have I wanted to closely examine what I believe, who to learn from and follow, and what environments feel comfortable to me, I have also needed to adapt my practice to work for me in new ways as my Neuro Spiciness took a new direction which was triggered by the start of the pandemic. When the world stopped, so did my ability to keep track of where I was in space and time. After trying to get back…

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    Living the Oily Life

    Oils: The Basics     Plants have been around since the beginning of time and their benefits have been harvested, but not to the extent they are known now. The essential oil industry over the past several years has boomed as people started to look more toward non-traditional and less Westernized medicine. If it has worked for millennia, why not now? Oils can be distilled in multiple ways. Typically there are 2: Steam and expression. Steam is the most common way. Heat is used with a combo of gentle pressure and this combo causes the essential oils to be released. The oil lays on top of a layer of water…

  • Monthly Columns

    Focus Pocus

    My Life is Not a Greek Drama, but Thank You Anyway Eris     During my year-long journey reading the Iliad and the Odyssey as part of Jack Grayle’s course Godsong, I noticed the way I perceive some of the gods in the stories differently than when I studied the texts when I was in college. Over the years life experience and therapy has shaped how I understand the actions of others and recently I found myself relating to the Goddess of Strife in a way I never expected. She is referred to as Strife in the Iliad Book 4, “whose fury never tires, sister and friend of murderous Ares,…

  • Monthly Columns

    Focus Pocus

    Working With the Gods When You Have ADHD Athena I recently took Jack Grayle’s online course Godsong, which is a year-long study of Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey and the spiritual takeaways that can still be made in today’s world (and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is into mythology and/or classical literature!). One of my key learnings from this course, and particularly from the Odyssey, is how powerful the goddess Athena can be as an ally to those who have ADHD, like myself. First of all, Athena is a great shapeshifter who takes on the form of birds and humans as a method of persuasion and she…

  • Monthly Columns

    Focus Pocus

    Working With the Gods When You Have ADHD Hekate   “Goddess of transitions and thresholds, help me switch my tasks.” One of the fun symptoms of ADHD that I experience on the regular is difficulty with tasks. It’s not just doing the task that can be difficult but initiating the task and moving on to another one can all be equally difficult. For example, it’s hard for me to get out of bed unless I must, like my cats are absolutely starving or I must start work. Not too long ago I was standing in my kitchen annoyed with myself struggling to get something done that needed to be and…

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    Focus Pocus

    (Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash)   Spirituality & ADHD Brains are weird. It is the machine that keeps our body alive. Sometimes, it is the computer that has crunched the numbers and tells us, “Hey there’s a chance that thing you are about to do could kill us,” and other times it is the decision maker which determines maybe we are better off without knowing any of the details. It helps us understand the world and the people in it and helps us make the connections that are essential to our well-being and survival. It is also the part of us that can make us feel disconnected at times,…

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    Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times

    Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for February 2022   (Photo by Wout Vanacker on Unsplash )   Bright Blessings! The holidays are behind us and it’s a new year. How time flies! For some that means you are still procrastinating about putting the Yule decorations away, doesn’t it? And the kids have absolutely begged you to leave them up, haven’t they? Have a mug of hot wassail and admire your work a bit longer why not? While you are at it, think about all the good things you accomplished in 2021. If you can’t think of anything? I can. What about the time you made somebody’s day because…

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    Jazzs’ Gems

    Citrine   (Image by Dieter Staab from Pixabay)   Citrine is a very useful crystal with a multitude of properties. It is a yellow variety of quartz and can be orange, brown or yellow. It is a birthstone for November, and also is connected to Aries, Gemini, Leo and Libra. Its element is Air and its planet is Jupiter. Citrine is also known as the Merchant’s Stone and is also sensitive to heat so it is best not to put it where there is too much light or heat. One tip to know if your Citrine is real vs something like heat treated Amethyst is looking at it in the…